Research and analysis

South Hams UKSPF evaluation: interim findings

Updated 3 December 2025

Applies to England

Executive summary: South Hams interim findings

Introduction

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) provides a total of £3.5 billion of funding for local investment over 4 years (2022 to 2026), with all places in the UK receiving an allocation via a funding formula. Local decision-makers work with their local communities and partners to deliver interventions under three investment priorities: Communities and Place, Supporting Local Businesses and People and Skills.

This interim report presents the emerging findings from the place level evaluation of UKSPF in South Hams, based on research conducted between December 2024 to March 2025. It outlines the progress made to date and presents interim evaluation findings.

Key process evaluation findings

Intervention design

• The initial strategic design of South Hams UKSPF programme was shaped through sector-based research, alignment to key policy including the South Hams District Council (SHDC) Council Plan, Council Member engagement and the declaration of a climate emergency by SHDC.
• The plan incorporated local priorities and government objectives, with a central theme of “clean growth and decarbonisation.”
• The design of the UKSPF portfolio facilitated a shift from generic, high-volume projects to more targeted, high-impact interventions, aiming to position South Hams as a leader in Agri-tech, the marine economy, and decarbonisation, while boosting business productivity, innovation, and resilience.
• South Hams aligned its UKSPF programme with West Devon Borough Council’s model to streamline management and delivery. While this improved efficiency, duplicated administrative tasks caused frustration, and could have been avoided with more flexibility around cross-authority programming.
• The majority of project interventions were directly commissioned. In the minority of instances where competitive tendering was undertaken, procurement was deemed to have been a success.

UKSPF was complemented by £838,000 from the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF), which supported capital initiatives aligned with decarbonisation, Agri-tech innovation, and Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) schemes. Alignment with decarbonisation and innovation goals worked well, though tight grant expenditure timelines were challenging

Portfolio implementation

• Partner organisations submitted project proposals to the Place and Economy Team at SHDC, which were then scrutinised by Council Members.
• Final approval required sign-off from the Council Leader and the Portfolio holder in cases where there were any concerns.
• The approach to implementation was streamlined and efficient, influenced in part by the urgency to commence delivery. This urgency limited the extent of wider strategic engagement in the design of interventions.

Intervention delivery

• External providers were commissioned to deliver all elements of the portfolio apart from those associated with the marine economy, the majority of which were delivered by SHDC.
• Most interventions had progressed well with some, particularly those associated with Agri-innovation and the marine sector, surpassing expectations. Delays associated with the completion of the LCWIP have limited progress on the active and inclusive travel project.

Data collection and monitoring

• SHDC accessed monitoring and evaluation support from Devon County Council (DCC), gaining independent feedback and expert support for delivery partners. The collaboration reassured DCC of SHDC’s programme management capacity and strengthened their partnership ahead of devolution.

Programme oversight

• DCC was commissioned to support SHDC’s UKSPF monitoring and evaluation. Quarterly face-to-face meetings with delivery partners, attended by DCC and SHDC officers, enabled progress and performance reviews, issue resolution, and evidence checks. Delivery partners appreciated this pragmatic, solution-focused approach.
• Quarterly Partnership meetings brought together SHDC’s Place and Economy Team, economy portfolio holders from SHDC, WDBC, DCC, and delivery partners to share updates, good practice, and lessons learned. These sessions helped build strong relationships across the delivery partners.

Progress to date: expenditure, outputs and outcomes

Only limited expenditure data was available at time of writing and this will be updated in the final evaluation report.

Progress towards output targets shows a mixed picture in terms of delivery across the two investment priorities for South Hams. Few of the Communities and Place outputs have been reported and where they have, they currently fall short of target. For Supporting Local Businesses, several targets have already been achieved and some surpassed, including the number of people attending training sessions.

Early impact findings

Early impacts under the Communities and Place theme have been hampered by the delays associated with the completion of the LCWIP.

• Amongst the Supporting Local Businesses projects, several have been particularly successful, with impacts beginning to emerge.
• The regenerative farming support project has met the majority of its targets for this financial year and its success has been recognised at a national level, winning a NFU award. SHDC has been approached by authorities from other parts of the country seeking guidance on replicating this successful project.
• All projects under the Agri-tech theme have been particularly successful, establishing an enhanced network of support and an expansion in the support teams, offering additional capacity to deliver support to the sector. Collaboration between DCC and the Apricot Centre has created a more joined up network, with the local providers able to access new opportunities through partnership with DCC.
• The marine vessel recycling project has gained international profile and the project has now attracted major private sector interest in scaling up the approach. The project has also influenced the launch of a clean marine campaign by SHDC.

The outcomes and impact of UKSPF in South Hams will be explored in more depth in the final evaluation report.